Free To Be…You And Me: My First Feminist Theory Class

I took my first class in feminist theory from a car seat in the back of my parents’ blue station wagon. As we pulled out of the driveway and embarked on adventures to the grocery store, school, or ski mountain, my sister and I would clamor for entertainment. An adult arm would reach into the glove compartment and pull out a tape. Many tapes rotated through our car during that time, but the one that seemed to captivate us most during those long rides was the Ms. Foundation for Women’s 1972 masterpiece “Free to Be… You and Me.”

I didn’t know that the program, which is composed of a series of poems, songs, and sketches, was a record album and book before it was a tape. I also had …

Free to Be You and Me

Free to Be You and Me

On my last procrastination streak, in addition to watching dozens of videos of young children singing pop songs on YouTube, I stumbled upon a gem from my childhood – all 44 minutes of ‘Free to Be… You and Me’. I don’t know how many of you watched, read or listened to ‘Free to Be,’ as kids, but for those who didn’t, it is a movie, book, and CD created in 1972 dedicated to entertaining kids without reinforcing gender stereotypes – boys are told its okay to cry, “mommies’” and “daddies’” jobs are unrelated to their gender, and princesses travel the world and remain single. I still remember my first “feminist moment” when, at age six, my jam sesh to ‘William’s Doll’ was interrupted by …